2011/12: A Premier League season in Review:
Well, what a climatic end to a season that was, and maybe somewhat ironic that City won the league in "fergie time". With such great games as Arsenal 5 Spurs 2 and of course the end of season thriller that was Man City 3 QPR 2, this has certainly been some way to mark 20 years of the Premier League. Obviously while many will look back at this rollercoaster of a season with affection, for fans of three clubs this won't be the case. The clubs in referance are of course relegated Bolton, Blackburn and Wolves. I'm going to look at each three clubs' seasons all in due course, but first I'll look at the other end of the table. Never before has a title battle in England been so close in so many ways. Seperated only on goal differance, the teams only a few miles apart, the battle for the title between the blue and red halves of Manchester is one that, from a neutrals point of view, has made for some great watching. Both sides looked unstoppable at the start of the season, with United beating Arsenal 8-2 just hours before their City rivals destroyed Tottenham 5-0. Those games pretty much show the gap in quality between Manchester and the rest of the country, especially when you consider those two teams are, according to the league title, the best two teams outside of Manchester.
Possibly the most remorable game of the season came at ground that, in the 20 years of the premier league, had seen it's tenants lift an amazing 12 league titles, that ground of course being Old Trafford. Now, beating United on their own ground is certainly an acheivement, but beating them 6-1? If you don't think that's one of the most amazing thing you've ever seen before, you either aren't are proper football fan or have had one hell of an amazing life. Roberto Mancini may have his critics, but regardless of the funds the club posses this man has worked wonders at City. While he has, on rare occasions, been guilty of playing somewhat negative football, his side play with a fluidity and edge that, in my opinion, no club team outside of Catalonia can match. This City side is certainly the strongest side ever to play there football in the blue half of Manchester, with the goalkeeping talent of Joe Hart combined with the defensive goliath that is Vincent Kompany providing superb foundations for the attacking talent of such world class talents as David Silva, Sergio Aguero and the now somewhat controversial Carlos Tevez.
Now I'm certainly no fan of Manchester City, but I can't deny the sense of awe and enjyment I get from watching them when they're in full flow. I don't think England has seen such a brilliant side since the Arsenal "Invincibles" side that famously went 49 games unbeaten back in 2004 that included the likes of Bergkamp and Viera. This brings me on to a point I'd like to make. Is Mancini trying to recreate that Arsenal side? I mean, compare the strongest 11 of those two teams and the similarities are there to be seen. Jens Lehmann was a world class keeper that could make game saving saves when called on, something that reminds me of Joe Hart. Dennis Bergkamp could create chances from anywhere, not forgetting had a talent for scoring amazingly skillful goals, But hang on, don't those traits also apply to Sergio Aguero? Patrick Viera was the midfielder anchor for Arsenal, who could turn defense into attack in moments with by winning the ball and passing it to Bergkamp or Pires to work their magic, but did Yaya Toure not fufill that role for City last season, except instead of Bergkamp and Pires he was supporting Aguero and Silva?
Like i said, just my opinions. But key players aside they both played wonderful football yet could also comfortably defend when needed, not forgetting the ability to win trophies. Sadly for the fans of Arsenal, winning trophies no longer seems to be on the agenda of a club that, without their talismatic captain Van Persie would've probably finished probably more than a few places lower than they did. With nothing but a runners up medal in the League Cup won since the short move from Highbury back in 2006, surely Arsene Wenger needs to start spending to take the gunners back into serious title contenders. Well, by the time I've wrote this they've already signed a striker. However, unlike the past few strikers he's brought, this one has credentials. Serious credentials. You've got to good to play an international for Germany, but this guy's done it 100 times, Scoring 44 goals in the process. And did I mention he's only just turned 27? This player is of course Lukas Podolski, a player that has been called a world class talent by both German and worldwide media alike, so could it be Wenger has finally started to invest and attempt to do to Arsenal back into the title winning super club he transformed them into when he first arrived in England? Only time will tell, but with a few more good signings I can see this being more realistic than other's may think.
However, It's not just Arsenal that are hoping for title challanges next year in London, there bitter local rivals Tottenham have found themselves with a top class team including the likes of Gareth Bale and Luka Modric. Regardless of your opinion of him, Harry Redknapp had built a top quality team that could knock Arsenal off their perch as North London's premier team in the near future until his sacking a few days ago. Well actually, that looked like reality just a few months ago until a 5-2 win by The Gunners and an amazing game of catch up resulted in Arsenal coming out on top, with Spurs left to only wonder at how a team that looked like it may be able to gatecrash the Manchester top 2 ended up finishing the season in such a disappointing manner. Whether Redknapp's replacement can continue Harry's work or not remains to be seen, however I doubt either North London team can topped the exploits last season of another team from a different part of London, Chelsea.
The start they made under AVB wasn't what Chelsea fans had hoped for, and ultimately this resulted in AVB being sacked in March to be replaced, to the surprise of many CFC fans, a man who less than 2 years ago wasn't deemed good enough to manage West Brom. But to say Roberto Di Matteo silenced his doubters is an understatement. No one would have said Chelsea could even get to the final after a poor display in Napoli eventually cost AVB his job, but Di Matteo totally turned the sides fortunes around and after beating the best team in the world on their own ground (the highlight of the game probably not being football, but a certain Sky Sports pundit's reaction to Torres' winning goal) Chelsea found themselves facing German side Bayern Munich on their own ground. And even though Germans are to penalties what emile Heskey certainly isn't to scoring goals, Didier Drogba scored the winning goal that sent the travelling Chelsea fans into euphoria. RDM had done it, he'd won Chelsea's hard to please owner something not even the great Jose Mourinho could: The UEFA Chapions League. If Roberto can carry on his success next season or not, he has surely earned his places as one of the greatest names in the history of Chelsea Football Club.
While Chelsea's history may not be as trophy filled as the club two places behind them, it's clear which one has the brighter future. The club two places behind Chelsea is off course, Liverpool. While I am certainly not a fan of LFC, I do feel sympathetic towards both the club and their fans. Even the man the fans had been wanting ever since Rafa Benitez resigned couldn't turn Liverpool back into the force they where in the 80's, or even the force they where back in 2008. A combination of bad luck and seriously bad money management (I'm sorry Andy, but you're just never going to come close to justifying your £35 Million price tag) left them finishing behind Merseyside rivals Everton, with only the second tier cup competition to show for the 2 years of "King Kenny's" reign. For me, Bredan Rodgers is the right man for getting Liverpool back into competition for the top 4, but I can't see it ever being anything more than that. When you consider the teams also in the mix, I can't see Liverpool winning a 19th title any time soon.
Rodgers' old club, Swansea, was possibly the biggest surprise in a season full quite simply full of them, around 80% of people had them down as relegation favourites, so for them to finish as highly as they did was an amazing achievement and Rodgers deserves all the credit heh gets for both being such a success and playing wonderful football last season. Not forgetting some memorable wins at the Liberty Stadium over some of the league's best teams.
Newcastle had been mostly tipped to finish around mid table this season, so to find them 2nd at one point was a shock to football fans across the land, and while they didn't achieve the dream of a 4th place finish (Which due to Chelsea winning the CL would've just been a place in the Europa League anyway) they did surprise fans and pundits alike to finish 5th place, with possibly a highlight to their season being the victory against Chelsea at the Bridge thanks to that finish from the undoubtable January signing of the season, Papiss Cisse, just two seasons after a bleak campaign in the second division that included a pre season thrasing by Leyton Orient and losing 2-1 to another United that are simply incomparable in every way to the Geordie Giants, my hometown team Scunthorpe United. But Alan Pardrew proved his doubters wrong and done something few thought was possible by taking the Tyneside team to 5th place, ahead of the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool.
Now I promised I'd write about the relegated teams earlier on, so as the final part of my review, I'll do just that. Terry Connor never had much chance of keeping Wolves up after everyone's favourite outspoken Irishman was sacked mid season after a poor run of results. However, TC's results were arguebly much worse, with nearly all of his games being defeats for the Midlands side. However, it is good to see the Wolves fans aren't taking it all out on TC, and I seriously do feel sorry for him being given such a hard task. But while Wolves fans still have good opinions on their manager, the same can't be said for the next relegated side on the agenda, Blackburn Rovers. Even wins against Arsenal and Man United couldn't rid Ewood Park of "Kean Out" banners and the poor bloke probably gets more hate than Burnely and Wigan combined on the Blackburn forums online, and sadly he has not done much to help his cause. When Venky's first took over Blackburn, they said they'd be bringing in the likes of Ronaldinho and David Beckham, and in two years time they'd be competing for a place in the top 6. It seems that last point is actually going to be true, only a division lower than promised by the Indian company and hoped for by the Blackburn fans that, in my opinion, have been treated very badly by their clubs owners. Joining Blackburn and Wolves in the botton three is Bolton, a side that after losing 5-0 to Stoke in the FA Cup Semi Final have been on a downward spiral ever since (minus a 5-0 win over Stoke in the league, although that ultimately proved fruitless to the Wanderer's fortunes).
Bolton are, in my opinion, the side best placed for bouncing straight back up and being competitive in the Premier League in a years time. This is because, unlike the other two teams they have a sense of internal stability, and are starting to look a newer side after the departure of many players that 5 years ago came closr to getting Bolton into Europe, but now are simply a combination of want-aways and has-beens. While they lost there star player Gary Cahill in mid season, they still have a better squad in my opinion than the other two relegated sides this year. Blackburn may have a good keeper in Paul Robinson and fantastic striking ability in Yakubu, I doubt either of them will be playing at Ewood Park next season, as much as Blackburn fans hate to admit it...
